The arrogance of Israel testifies against him, yet they refuse to return to the Lord their God! In spite of all this they refuse to seek him!

Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! ¹  Listen closely, ²  O king! ³  For judgment is about to overtake you! ⁴  For you were like a trap ⁵  to Mizpah, ⁶  like a net ⁷  spread out to catch Tabor. ⁸ 

¹ This is the word of the Lord which was revealed to Hosea ²  son of Beeri during the time when ³  Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah ruled Judah, ⁴  and during the time when Jeroboam son of Joash ⁵  ruled Israel. ⁶ 

That idol was made by a workman – it is not God! The calf idol of Samaria will be broken to bits.

They turn to Baal; ¹  they are like an unreliable bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because their prayers to Baal ²  have made me angry. So people will disdain them in the land of Egypt. ³ 

O Samaria, he has rejected your calf idol! My anger burns against them! They will not survive much longer without being punished, ¹  even though they are Israelites!

Even the calf idol ¹  will be carried to Assyria, as tribute for the great king. ²  Ephraim will be disgraced; Israel will be put to shame because ³  of its wooden idol. ⁴ 

The time of judgment ¹  is about to arrive! ²  The time of retribution ³  is imminent! ⁴  Let Israel know! ⁵ The prophet is considered a fool ⁶  – the inspired man ⁷  is viewed as a madman ⁸  – because of the multitude of your sins and your intense ⁹  animosity.

Therefore the land will mourn, and all its inhabitants will perish. ¹  The wild animals, ²  the birds of the sky, and even the fish in the sea will perish.

Therefore, I will soon ¹  fence her in ²  with thorns; I will wall her in ³  so that ⁴  she cannot find her way. ⁵ 

However, in the future I will allure her; ¹  I will lead ²  her back into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.

They will not pour out drink offerings of wine to the Lord; they will not please him with their sacrifices. Their sacrifices will be like bread eaten while in mourning; all those who eat them will make themselves ritually unclean. For their bread will be only to satisfy their appetite; it will not come into the temple of the Lord.

For the Israelites ¹  must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols.

They will not remain in the Lord’s land. Ephraim will return to Egypt; they will eat ritually unclean food in Assyria.

The labor pains of a woman will overtake him, but the baby will lack wisdom; when the time arrives, he will not come out of the womb!

When the Lord first spoke ¹  through ²  Hosea, he ³  said to him, ⁴  “Go marry ⁵  a prostitute ⁶  who will bear illegitimate children conceived through prostitution, ⁷  because the nation ⁸  continually commits spiritual prostitution ⁹  by turning away from the Lord.”

Then I told her, “You must live with me many days; you must not commit adultery or have sexual intercourse with ¹  another man, and I also will wait for you.”

Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites! ¹  For the Lord has a covenant lawsuit ²  against the people of Israel. ³  For there is neither faithfulness nor loyalty in the land, nor do they acknowledge God. ⁴